Container

ABSTRACT

A stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar removeably and vertically attached to a first corner of the base; a second pillar removeably and vertically attached to a second corner of the base; a third pillar removeably and vertically attached to a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar removeably and vertically attached to a fourth corner of the base; a first stabilizer removeably attached to one of the pillars or the base; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; and where the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration that is no more than about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and where the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and where the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets. A stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar base located at generally a first corner of the base; a second pillar base located at generally a second corner of the base; a third pillar base located at generally a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar base located at generally a fourth corner of the base; a first pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the first pillar base; a second pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the second pillar base; a third pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the third pillar base, the third pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the third pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a fourth pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the fourth pillar base, the fourth pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the fourth pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a horizontal stabilizer comprising a first vertical cap located on a first end of the horizontal stabilizer, and a second vertical cap located on a second end of the horizontal stabilizer, where the first vertical cap and second vertical cap are configured to slideably attach to the first and second pillars respectively; a first diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the third pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a second diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the fourth pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; a top cross member removeably attachable to the first and fourth pillars; a bottom cross member removeably attached to the first and fourth pillars; a top cross member removeably attachable to the second and third pillars; and a bottom cross member removeably attached to the second and third pillars; a first center post removeably attachable to the base and the horizontal stabilizer, and when fully assembled, located in generally the same plane as the first and second pillar; a second center post removeably attachable to the base, and located in generally the same plane as the third and fourth pillar; a first cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a second cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a plurality of forklift tine stops located in the rear of the base and configured to be located at generally the height where forklift tines would be when loading or unloading pallets into the container; and where the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and where the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and where the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to containers, and more particularly, to containers that can be stacked with other containers, and can be collapsed and stacked in the collapsed orientation.

BACKGROUND

Known pallets generally cannot be stacked when they are loaded with cargo.

Some pallets are designed to be stacked, but these are generally made out of cardboard. The cardboard in these pallets can degrade when exposed to certain environments, such as humid environments. This can lead to the stack cardboard pallets collapsing unexpectedly.

Sometimes, pallets are loaded with cargo that can be stacked, such as boxes. On occasion, pallets with such cargo are stacked, and the cargo is expected to hold the weight of the pallet and cargo being stacked on it. The stacked cargo and pallets can unexpectedly collapse, and or shift, leading to damage to the cargo, pallets, and perhaps serious injury or death to workers or other people in the vicinity.

In a warehouse, shelving systems may be used to store pallets more than one high. These shelving systems are often generally immovable and require aisles for access to the pallets and cargo. Rolling shelving systems can provide for moveable shelving, but are limited in the direction the shelves can roll in. In addition, rolling shelving systems with cargo and pallets stored in them, cannot generally by loaded into cargo containers.

Thus there is a need for containers that overcomes the above listed and other disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar removeably and vertically attached to a first corner of the base; a second pillar removeably and vertically attached to a second corner of the base; a third pillar removeably and vertically attached to a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar removeably and vertically attached to a fourth corner of the base; a first stabilizer removeably attached to one of the pillars or the base; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; and where the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration that is no more than about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and where the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and where the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets.

The invention also relates to a stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar base located at generally a first corner of the base; a second pillar base located at generally a second corner of the base; a third pillar base located at generally a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar base located at generally a fourth corner of the base; a first pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the first pillar base; a second pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the second pillar base; a third pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the third pillar base, the third pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the third pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a fourth pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the fourth pillar base, the fourth pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the fourth pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a horizontal stabilizer comprising a first vertical cap located on a first end of the horizontal stabilizer, and a second vertical cap located on a second end of the horizontal stabilizer, where the first vertical cap and second vertical cap are configured to slideably attach to the first and second pillars respectively; a first diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the third pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a second diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the fourth pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; a top cross member removeably attachable to the first and fourth pillars; a bottom cross member removeably attached to the first and fourth pillars; a top cross member removeably attachable to the second and third pillars; and a bottom cross member removeably attached to the second and third pillars; a first center post removeably attachable to the base and the horizontal stabilizer, and when fully assembled, located in generally the same plane as the first and second pillar; a second center post removeably attachable to the base, and located in generally the same plane as the third and fourth pillar; a first cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a second cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a plurality of forklift tine stops located in the rear of the base and configured to be located at generally the height where forklift tines would be when loading or unloading pallets into the container; and where the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and where the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and where the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in the pertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where like elements are numbered alike in the several figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fully assembled container;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the container from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the container from FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the container from FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the container from FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the container;

FIG. 7 is close up view of the fastener attachment at a pillar;

FIG. 8 is a close up view of the fastener attachment at the base;

FIG. 9 is a close up view of the fastener attachment at another pillar;

FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view of the container;

FIG. 11 is the container from FIG. 10 loaded with two pallet containers;

FIG. 12 is a detail view of the center posts

FIG. 13 is a detail view of an end wall;

FIG. 14 is a detail view of the diagonal stiffener bar

FIG. 15 is a detail view of another end wall

FIG. 16 is a detail view of the horizontal stabilizer;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the container in a collapsed configuration;

FIG. 18 is a front view of the container from FIG. 17

FIG. 19 is a side view of the container from FIG. 17

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of the fully assembled container holding two container pallets;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of two fully assembled containers stacked on one another;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of seven collapsed containers stacked;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the base;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the container partially assembled;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the container even more assembled; and

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the container fully assembled.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed container makes it possible to stack standard pallets and reusable plastic corrugated boxes. Cardboard/plastic and wooden standard pallets are not possible to stack when fully loaded. They will be unstable or collapse if they are stacked. With the disclosed container, standard pallets can be stacked to about four high fully loaded. This means that one can get about four times as much equipment stored in the same floor area. For example in a warehouse one can store four times as much equipment because one is able to use more of the space the warehouse.

Using the disclosed container allows stacking of the standard pallets in storage. For example if one uses the disclosed container to store standard reusable plastic corrugated boxes one can stack them four high, which allows you to utilize more of a warehouse's space. The standard pallets or reusable plastic corrugated boxes are placed inside the disclosed container, and the disclosed container is moved about with a forklift, standard pallet jack, or any other suitable device. The disclosed container allows access to the content at all times. If one wants to collect something from one of the stacked disclosed container's, one can lift out the standard pallet using a forklift. The construction of the disclosed container makes it stable and safe to stack four high.

The fully assembled container can be stackable to about 4 high. The containers, when fully assembled and loaded with cargo, or unloaded, can be moved about, and thus becomes a moveable shelving system. Thus, as a moving shelving system, the entire floor space of the warehouse can be used. In addition, in other embodiments, the containers can be arranged so that there are aisles located about the containers. Therefore, if aisles are used when arranging the containers, then there is no need for a user to move containers in the front of an area (such as a warehouse, for example) in order to access containers in the back of the area. In another embodiment, containers loaded with pallets and cargo can be arranged so that all pallets in the same row contain the same material, and then the user can empty the pallets in the front row(s) first, collapse the container once emptied, and thereby get access to containers and/or pallets in the back.

The disclosed container can be flat packed. One can move a warehouse storage solution out to a new destination either fully loaded or flat packed. This allows one to save container space in transportation. The warehouse storage solution can then be assembled with no other tools than a standard wrench. If the containers are not flat packed, no tools are necessary to set up the containers in a new space.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the disclosed container 10. The container comprises a base 14, four pillars 18, 22, 26, 30, and two center posts 34, 38, a horizontal stabilizer 42. One more back plane stabilizers may be located generally in back plane defined by pillars 26 and 30. The back plane stabilizers may be comprise one or more walls located generally in the back plane removeably attached to the base 14, pillar 26, and/or pillar 30. In another embodiment, the back plane stabilizers may comprise one or more horizontal or vertical members removeably attached to the base 14, pillar 26, and/or pillar 30. In the shown embodiment, the back plane stabilizers comprise two diagonal stabilizers 46, 50. The horizontal stabilizer 42 is removably attached to two pillars 18, 22, and a center post 34, and provides horizontal stability to the container, so that the end walls 54, 58 of the container do not tend to lean or bow out away from the container. The end walls 54, 58 of the container 10 generally comprise posts 22 and 26 for a first end wall 54, and posts 18 and 30 for a second end wall 58. The back plane stabilizers 46, 50 generally keep the container in an upright orientation and generally keep the container from leaning, tilting, or collapsing. The container may have a pair of front forklift openings 62, a pair of first side forklift openings 66, and a pair of second side forklift openings. The pairs of forklift openings 62, 66, 68 are configured to allow a forklift to lift container 10. The container also has several forklift tine stops 72, that are configured to stop the tines of a fork lift from punching through the container, and damaging adjacent cargo or containers, when pallets or other containers are being moved into or out of the container 10. The diagonal stabilizers 46, 50 may be removably attached to the base 76 of the container via fasteners 80 such as linchpins, detent pins, clevis pins, or any other suitable fastener that allows for the generally quick release of the diagonal stabilizer from the container. The diagonal stabilizers may also be removeably attached to the pillar via similar fasteners 84. In one embodiment, the container is about 55 inches high when fully assembled.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the container 10. FIG. 3 is a top view of the container 10. FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the container 10. FIG. 5 is a side view of the container 10.

FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9 show details of how the fasteners attach the diagonal stabilizers to the base 76 and the pillars 26, 30.

FIG. 10 is a rear perspective view of the fully assembled container 10.

FIG. 11 is the container from FIG. 10 loaded with two pallet containers 88. The container pallets 88 can be removed from the container 10 simply by using a forklift, in one embodiment, and sliding the forklift tines under the pallet 88 and slightly lifting the pallet 88 out of the container 10, and backing the forklift away from the container while holding the container pallet 88 on the forklift tines.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the center posts 34, 38 and the cross-members 96 that are attached to them.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an end wall 54. The end wall 54 comprises pillars 22 and 26 and a top cross member 100 and a bottom cross member 102 attached to the pillars. Located at the juncture of the top cross member 100 and pillar 22 is a horizontal stabilizer support plate 104. The horizontal stabilizer support plate 104 works in concert with the horizontal stabilizer 42 (not shown in this view) to provide horizontal stiffness to the container 10. Located on pillar 26 near the top cross member 100 is a diagonal stiffener bar 108. The diagonal stiffener bar 108 is configured to allow the diagonal stabilizer 46 to removeably attach to the pillar 26.

FIG. 14 shows a close up view of the diagonal stiffener bar 108. In this view one can see an opening 112, which allows the fastener 84 can attach to in order to removeably attach the diagonal stabilizers 46 to the pillar 26.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the end wall 58.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the horizontal stabilizer 42. The horizontal stabilizer 42 may comprise an angle iron shaped material in order to provide stiffening properties to the horizontal stabilizer 42. The horizontal stabilizer 42 may comprise two vertical caps 116, configured to slide over pillars 18 and 22, and hold the horizontal stabilizer 42 in place as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the container 10 in a collapsed configuration. In this view you can see generally all the components that make up the fully assembled container laying in a relatively flat collapsed configuration that takes up less space, and is easy to transport. In this view the first, second, third, and fourth pillar bases 20, 24, 28, 32 are clearly visible. The first, second third, and fourth pillars 18, 22, 26, and 30 each can slide into their respective pillar bases when the container is fully assembled. When the container is in a collapsed configuration, it is about 12 inches high.

FIG. 18 is a front view of the collapsed container 10 from FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the collapsed container 10 from FIG. 17.

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of the fully assembled container 10 holding two container pallets 88.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing two containers stacked on one another. Up to about four containers 10 can be stacked when fully assembled and loaded.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing seven containers 10 stacked on one another in a collapsed orientation. The containers 10 can be stacked up to 10 high when in a collapsed orientation.

FIGS. 23 through 26 show how the container can be quickly fully assembled. FIG. 23 shows just the base 14. FIG. 24 shows the pillars 18, 22, 26, and 30 inserted into the pillar bases 20, 24, 28, and 32 respectively. Also the top and bottom cross members 100, 102 are attached to their respective pillars. The two center posts 34, 38 are inserted into the center post bases 36, 40. The cross members 96 are attached to the center posts 34, 38. In FIG. 25, the diagonal stabilizers 46, 50 are attached to the pillars 26 and 30, and to the base 14. In FIG. 26, the horizontal stabilizer 42 is attached to the pillars 18, 22. Collapsing the container 10 can be accomplished by reversing the order of assembling the container 10, as shown in FIGS. 23 through 26.

This invention has many advantages. The container can be collapsed into a flat packed configuration. The container can be stacked while fully assembled and loaded with pallets and/or cargo up to four containers high. When the containers are flat packed, they can be stacked up to about 10 containers high. When flat packed, the containers take up much less space than when fully assembled. The containers can be fully assembled and fully collapsed in a small amount of time without the need for special tools, or more than two workers. The containers have forklift tine stops that can protect adjacent cargo, pallets, and walls from being damaged. In addition, the containers are 4-way forkliftable, that is they can be lifted by a forklift at the front, first side, second side, and the rear. The containers have internal structures that guide the pallet into the container and prevents it from sliding out the back or out the sides.

It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/or analogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential, or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specifically stated.

While the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar removeably and vertically attached to a first corner of the base; a second pillar removeably and vertically attached to a second corner of the base; a third pillar removeably and vertically attached to a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar removeably and vertically attached to a fourth corner of the base; a first stabilizer removeably attached to one of the pillars or the base; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; and wherein the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration that is no more than about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and wherein the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and wherein the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets.
 2. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a horizontal stabilizer removeably attached to the top of the first pillar and removeably attached to the top of the second pillar.
 3. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, wherein the first stabilizer is a back plane stabilizer.
 4. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 3, wherein the back plane stabilizer is a first diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the third pillar and removeably attached to the base.
 5. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 4, further comprising: a second backplane stabilizer, wherein the second back plane stabilizer is a second diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the fourth pillar and removeably attached to the base.
 6. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a first pillar base located at generally a first corner of the base; a second pillar base located at generally a second corner of the base; a third pillar base located at generally a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar base located at generally a fourth corner of the base; wherein the first pillar is configured to removeably and slideably attach into the first pillar base; wherein the second pillar is configured to removeably and slideably attach into the second pillar base; wherein the third pillar is configured to removeably and slideably attach into the third pillar base; and wherein the fourth pillar is configured to removeably and slideably attach into the fourth pillar base.
 7. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of forklift tine stops located in the rear of the base and configured to be located at generally the height where forklift tines would be when loading or unloading pallets into the container.
 8. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 7, wherein the plurality of forklift tine stops are about 5 to about 10 inches from the bottom of the base.
 9. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: at least one forklift opening located on the front of the base.
 10. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 9, further comprising: at least one forklift opening located on the first side of the base; and at least one forklift opening located on the second side of the base.
 11. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a quick attach and release means for attaching the first diagonal stabilizer to the third pillar and the base; a quick attach and release means for attaching the second diagonal stabilizer to the fourth pillar and the base.
 12. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a first center post removeably attachable to the base and the horizontal stabilizer, and when fully assembled, located in generally the same plane as the first and second pillar; a second center post removeably attachable to the base, and located in generally the same plane as the third and fourth pillar.
 13. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a first cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post.
 14. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, further comprising: a top cross member removeably attachable to the first and fourth pillars; a bottom cross member removeably attached to the first and fourth pillars; a top cross member removeably attachable to the second and third pillars; and a bottom cross member removeably attached to the second and third pillars.
 15. The stackable and collapsible container of claim 1, wherein the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration that is no more than about 22% of the height of the fully assembled container
 16. A stackable and collapsible container comprising: a base; a first pillar base located at generally a first corner of the base; a second pillar base located at generally a second corner of the base; a third pillar base located at generally a third corner of the base; a fourth pillar base located at generally a fourth corner of the base; a first pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the first pillar base; a second pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the second pillar base; a third pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the third pillar base, the third pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the third pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a fourth pillar configured to removeably and slideably attach into the fourth pillar base, the fourth pillar comprising a diagonal stiffener bar located near the top of the fourth pillar and the diagonal stiffener bar comprising an opening; a horizontal stabilizer comprising a first vertical cap located on a first end of the horizontal stabilizer, and a second vertical cap located on a second end of the horizontal stabilizer, wherein the first vertical cap and second vertical cap are configured to slideably attach to the first and second pillars respectively; a first diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the third pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a second diagonal stabilizer removeably attached to near the top of the fourth pillar at the diagonal stiffener bar via a linch pin attachable to the stiffener bar opening and removeably attached to the base via a linch pin; a pair of forklift openings located on the front of the base; a top cross member removeably attachable to the first and fourth pillars; a bottom cross member removeably attached to the first and fourth pillars; a top cross member removeably attachable to the second and third pillars; and a bottom cross member removeably attached to the second and third pillars; a first center post removeably attachable to the base and the horizontal stabilizer, and when fully assembled, located in generally the same plane as the first and second pillar; a second center post removeably attachable to the base, and located in generally the same plane as the third and fourth pillar; a first cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a second cross member removeably attachable to the first center post and the second center post; a plurality of forklift tine stops located in the rear of the base and configured to be located at generally the height where forklift tines would be when loading or unloading pallets into the container; and wherein the container can be collapsed by a user to a generally flat configuration that is no more than about 50% of the height of the fully assembled container, and wherein the collapsed container can be stacked up to about 10 high with other collapsed containers, and wherein the fully assembled container can be stacked up to about 4 high with other fully assembled containers while housing pallets and cargo loaded on the pallets. 